CloudTrail
A service that enables governance, compliance, and operational and risk auditing of AWS accounts.
Description
AWS CloudTrail is a service that allows users to monitor and log account activity across their AWS infrastructure. It provides detailed records of API calls made on your account, including who made the call, what actions were taken, and when they occurred. This logging capability is crucial for security analysis, tracking changes, and compliance auditing, as it helps organizations maintain transparency in their AWS environments. CloudTrail can capture events from various AWS services, such as Amazon S3, EC2, and Lambda, and store these logs in an S3 bucket. Users can also configure CloudTrail to send notifications via Amazon SNS or integrate with monitoring tools for real-time insights. By enabling CloudTrail, organizations can better understand their usage patterns, detect unauthorized access or changes, and respond to incidents more effectively, thus enhancing their overall security posture.
Examples
- A financial institution uses CloudTrail to monitor API calls related to sensitive data access in S3 buckets, ensuring compliance with regulations.
- An e-commerce company analyzes CloudTrail logs to identify unusual patterns of user activity, helping to detect potential security breaches.
Additional Information
- CloudTrail can be configured to log events for multiple AWS accounts, providing a unified view of activity across an organization.
- It integrates seamlessly with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) to enforce security policies and manage user permissions.